The Armless Avenger
by HeavyMetalBender
Summary: When a waterbender in the Northern Water Tribe begins to earthbend, it causes a stir that catches the attention of the White Lotus. But when they meet the young waterbender, they realize that this won't be like training any other student in the bending arts. AU! Avatar Ming-Hua. Will be multi-chaptered!


**A/N: **This will be multichaptered, but I am working on a number of stories right now! Stay tuned, hope you enjoy this new Avatar... Please R&amp;R!

This is the second round post for the ProBending Circuit - Firebender, Mo Ce Mongoose Lizards.

**Prompts Used:**

* AU! Different Avatar

* Mention of firebending

* 5. (color) aqua

* 6. (emotion) anger

* 11. (quote) Look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better. -Albert Einstein

**Words:** 1138

* * *

"That _thing_ is supposed to be the Avatar?"

She had heard worse. Thirteen years of growing up in the isolated Northern Water tribe where locals weren't used to "differently-abled" people, as her father said, had prepared Ming-Hua for this moment.

That didn't mean the jab didn't hurt her feelings. She was not a _thing. _She was the Avatar.

Well, supposedly.

Aang _had_ died exactly fourteen years ago. But there were lots of fourteen year old Water Tribe children. She went to school with at least five and knew more existed elsewhere.

But bending water _and_ earth wasn't exactly _normal. _

Then again, she wasn't _exactly_ normal either.

* * *

Her father seemed to know she would be a bender before she did. He also knew she would not learn waterbending the traditional way, either.

Sitting near the edge of the water had become a ritual for the young armless toddler and her father.

"Look, honey," he pointed towards the moon, "This is how the first waterbenders learned to bend."

_Push._

_And pull._

_Push._

_And pull._

He always would go on about the same idea while they sat. "If you look at the first benders," he paused, "They had to learn from nature. We learned from the moon, the firebenders learned from the dragons, the air nomads were taught by the air bison, and the earth benders learned from the badgermoles. Ming-Hua, you have to learn to bend by looking at the nature that surrounds us. Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better. Bending, love, just… everything."

She often would tune him out in favor for staring at the moon. She felt drawn to the moon and its power to control the waves, pushing and pulling the tide to its will. She could feel the power within her, and one day, she started to do as the moon commanded.

_Push._

_And pull._

It all seemed to happen so fast. She had discovered her ability to waterbend before her third birthday: rather early for any bender, but essential for one who needed bending to function on a daily basis.

She was glad; she no longer would be an eternal disappointment to her parents. They had tried to hide it, but even at that early age she could see they had to adjust to having an armless and rather helpless child. Waterbending saved her. Her arms were her lifeline, and bending to create them had become as easy as breathing.

Then she somehow managed to earthbend. It wasn't an amazing feat by any stretch of the word. Rather, it was her father's idea to attempt to advance her waterbending by integrating earthbending techniques.

Grounding oneself, instead of the constant need to change that waterbending was built upon, seemed like the next logical step in progressing her bending. Then as she stomped on the ground, the connection was found. She tried again, trying to feel that connection again – and a small piece of earth shifted upwards. News spread quickly, and not even three weeks after her discovery of the ability to feel and connect to the earth the same way she had with water – these men showed up at her house.

* * *

A dark skinned man shook his head at the snide comments from his portly, light skinned comrade. He really didn't seem to have any outstanding features, save for his bright aqua eyes and a traditional Water Tribe warrior's wolf tail haircut. She decided his name would be Wolfie.

Wolfie seemed nice enough. He stood back and studied her while Pudge, as she had named the rude man, spoke to her father. She started to drift off, imagining his background and past. It was a way to pass the time in this unbelievably _tense_ interview. _Did he always want to be a warrior, or did he just want to be an ice craftsman? Could he bend? _She noted he had a sword cast in all black hanging from his side, and a boomerang strapped on his back, which seemed like an odd weapon. _Probably not_, she reasoned, with all the weaponry he kept close to him.

She looked over at her father, hesitantly nodding at all the information the guard seemed to be giving him. She still wasn't paying much attention, knowing that it would only serve to anger her further after being called a _thing._

Wolfie abruptly grabbed the man speaking to her father by the shoulder, silencing him with a firm, "Enough."

He pulled Pudge back and they started to converse in hushed tones.

The guard raised his voice enough for her to hear, "But how can she be the Avatar? She has no arms," waving his own for emphasis.

Her anger flared at the comment. She could feel the burning through her nostrils and the heat rise in the pit of her stomach. She tried to quell the heat by swallowing, but the sensation only served to infuriate her more. _Is this what firebending feels like? _Wolfie spoke before she could, noticing the smoke faintly escaping her nostrils before commenting, "If we've learned anything, benders with 'disabilities' tend to be the strongest… It is rather unusual, but look at Toph."

"How can we teach her to bend other elements?"

"We'll figure it out, Yeh-Lu… But she will probably have to learn from the masters: the original masters."

"You mean like the dragons?"

"Exactly."

* * *

Ming-Hua collected herself. _No point in making a bad first impression_, even though they had thought otherwise. She stood and approached the pair.

"My name is Ming-Hua. Is there some sort of trouble?"

Pudge, adorned in what she had learned later was a White Lotus uniform, stepped forward. Wolfie cut him off quickly, "My name is Sokka. Can you show us your bending?"

She replied, "Sure thing, Wolfie," to which Sokka seemed to smile.

Ming-Hua breathed in deeply, centering herself to feel the water all around her – in the air, in the walls, and even in the droplets of sweat on the guard's faces. _Not enough. _She felt the presence of a jug of water kept nearby and beckoned it to join her body in the form of makeshift arms.

The tentacle-like arms became extension of her body with ease, much to the older man's surprise.

She grinned wickedly at the reaction, before widening her legs to create a sturdier stance. She felt the earth sing its familiar song to her, and lifted a leg, before quickly slamming it back on the ground, summoning a piece of earth to quickly rise under one of Pudge's feet. It caught him off balance, and he stumbled forward.

Wolfie grinned, motioning to the girl, "See, she's capable enough."

She smiled brightly, almost smug at their underestimation.

Under his breath, he shook his head and turned to Pudge, whispering, "Toph's going to fucking love her."


End file.
